Neurology Commons^™

Preventing Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction Through Preoperative Exercise, John Andre Socci

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Introduction: Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is a common problem in the elderly population after undergoing anesthesia that results in sometimes irreversible cognitive and physical impairment that can increase mortality and decrease quality of life.

Methods: To see the relationship between preoperative fitness capacity and how this relates to postoperative cognitive ability a literature review was performed. Studies that were included involved populations older than sixty years old that had undergone anesthesia. Additionally, animal studies were included to show inflammatory marker levels and how they increased in relation to physical activity.

Results: Various fitness scales were used such as the Timed …

The Design Of A Quality Improvement Dashboard For Monitoring Spinal Cord And Column Injuries, Zahra Azadmanjir, Mohsen Sadeghi-Naini, Mohammad Dashtkoohi, Maziar Moradi-Lakeh, Jalil Arabkheradmand, James Harrop, Vafa Rahimi-Movaghar

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

Background: Interactive dashboards are a powerful tool for dynamic visualization and monitoring of patient performance and serve as a useful to for optimal decision-making. The National Spinal Column and Cord Injury Registry of Iran (NSCIR-IR) was designed to efficiently display and broadcast important patient care data. This has been achieved through an electronic dashboard display (graph and visual displays), rather than traditional static paper reports (text). Objectives: The objective of this study was to design and develop an electronic visual dashboard as a display system to monitor the quality of care in the NSCIR-IR collaborating centers. Methods: The indicators chosen …

Epilepsy Networks And Their Surgical Relevance, Kevin Hines, Chengyuan Wu

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

Surgical epilepsy is a rapidly evolved field. As the understanding and concepts of epilepsy shift towards a network disorder, surgical outcomes may shed light on numerous components of these systems. This review documents the evolution of the understanding of epilepsy networks and examines the data generated by resective, ablative, neuromodulation, and invasive monitoring surgeries in epilepsy patients. As these network tools are better integrated into epilepsy practice, they may eventually inform surgical decisions and improve clinical outcomes.

Characteristic Dynamic Functional Connectivity During Sevoflurane-Induced General Anesthesia, J. Miao, M. Tantawi, Mahdi Alizadeh, Sara Thalheimer, Faezeh Vedaei, Victor Romo, Feroze B. Mohamed, Chengyuan Wu

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

General anesthesia (GA) during surgery is commonly maintained by inhalational sevoflurane. Previous resting state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) studies have demonstrated suppressed functional connectivity (FC) of the entire brain networks, especially the default mode networks, transitioning from the awake to GA condition. However, accuracy and reliability were limited by previous administration methods (e.g. face mask) and short rs-fMRI scans. Therefore, in this study, a clinical scenario of epilepsy patients undergoing laser interstitial thermal therapy was leveraged to acquire 15 min of rs-fMRI while under general endotracheal anesthesia to maximize the accuracy of sevoflurane level. Nine recruited patients had fMRI acquired during …

Durable Responses At 24 Months With High-Frequency Spinal Cord Stimulation For Nonsurgical Refractory Back Pain, Naresh P. Patel, Jessica Jameson, Curtis Johnson, Daniel Kloster, Aaron Calodney, Peter Kosek, Julie Pilitsis, Markus Bendel, Erika Petersen, Chengyuan Wu, Taissa Cherry, Shivanand Lad, Cong Yu, Dawood Sayed, Johnathan Goree, Mark K. Lyons, Andrew Sack, Diana Bruce, Manish Bharara, Rose Province-Azalde, David Caraway, Leonardo Kapural

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the 24-month durability of pain relief, function, quality of life, and safety outcomes for patients with nonsurgical refractory back pain (NSRBP) treated with high-frequency spinal cord stimulation (SCS) within a large, national, multicenter randomized controlled trial (RCT).

METHODS: Following the completion of an RCT comparing high-frequency SCS plus CMM with CMM alone for the treatment of NSRBP, patients gave additional consent for a follow-up extension to 24 months. Presented is the cohort analysis of all patients treated with high-frequency SCS following the optional crossover at 6 months. The outcomes assessed to …

Cavernous Malformations Of The Central Nervous System: An International Consensus Statement, Anastasia Tasiou, Alexandros G. Brotis, Adamantios Kalogeras, Christos Tzerefos, Cargill H. Alleyne, Alexandros Andreou, Andreas K. Demetriades, Nikolaos Foroglou, Robert M. Friedlander, Bengt Karlsson, Neil Kitchen, Torstein R. Meling, Aristotelis Mitsos, Vasilios Panagiotopoulos, Themistoklis Papasilekas, Giacomo Pavesi, Lukas Rasulic, Alejandro N. Santos, Robert F. Spetxler, Ulrich Sure, Stavropoula Tjoumakaris, Christos M. Tolias, Peter Vajkoczy, Kostas N. Fountas

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

Introduction: Cavernous malformations (CM) of the central nervous system constitute rare vascular lesions. They are usually asymptomatic, which has allowed their management to become quite debatable. Even when they become symptomatic their optimal mode and timing of treatment remains controversial.

Research question: A consensus may navigate neurosurgeons through the decision-making process of selecting the optimal treatment for asymptomatic and symptomatic CMs.

Material and methods: A 17-item questionnaire was developed to address controversial issues in relation to aspects of the treatment, surgical planning, optimal surgical strategy for specific age groups, the role of stereotactic radiosurgery, as well as a follow-up pattern. …

Surgical Evacuation For Chronic Subdural Hematoma: Predictors Of Reoperation And Functional Outcomes, Georgios S. Sioutas, Ahmad Sweid, Md, Ching-Jen Chen, Andrea Becerril Gaitán, Fadi Al-Saiegh, Kareem El Naamani, Rawad Abbas, Abdelaziz Amllay, Lyena Birkenstock, Rachel E. Cain, Ramon L. Ruiz, Michael Buxbaum, David Nauheim, Bryan Renslo, Jonathan Bassig, Michael Reid Gooch, Nabeel Herial, Pascal Jabbour, Robert H. Rosenwasswer, Stavropoula I. Tjoumakaris

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

Background

Although chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) incidence has increased, there is limited evidence to guide patient management after surgical evacuation.

Objective

To identify predictors of reoperation and functional outcome after CSDH surgical evacuation.

Methods

We identified all patients with CSDH between 2010 and 2018. Clinical and radiographic variables were collected from the medical records. Outcomes included reoperation within 90 days and poor (3–6) modified Rankin Scale score at 3 months.

Results

We identified 461 surgically treated CSDH cases (396 patients). The mean age was 70.1 years, 29.7 % were females, 298 (64.6 %) underwent burr hole evacuation, 152 (33.0 %) …

Endovascular Embolization For Epistaxis: A Single Center Experience And Meta-Analysis, Kareem El Naamani, Charles Morse, Marc Ghanem, Julie Barbera, Abdelaziz Amllay, Grace Severance, Ramon Ruiz, Ahmad Sweid, Michael Gooch, Nabeel Herial, Pascal Jabbour, Robert Rosenwasswer, Gurston Nyquist, Stavropoula Tjoumakaris

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

The optimal treatment for intractable epistaxis is still controversial. Various studies have demonstrated high success rates and low complication rates for endovascular embolization. Herein, the authors report an institutional experience and meta-analysis in terms of efficacy and safety of endovascular embolization of intractable epistaxis. This was a retrospective observational study of 35 patients with epistaxis who underwent 40 embolization procedures between 2010 and 2023. The primary outcome was immediate success defined by immediate cessation of epistaxis at the end of the procedure. Immediate success was achieved in most of the procedures (39, 97.5%). During follow-up, three (7.5%) patients experienced a …

Neurologic Outcomes For Adult Spinal Cord Ependymomas Stratified By Tumor Location: A Retrospective Cohort Study And 2-Year Outlook, Keanu Chee, Grégoire P Chatain, Michael W Kortz, Stephanie Serva, Keshari Shrestha, Timothy H Ung, Jens-Peter Witt, Michael Finn

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

Determine whether craniocaudal spinal cord tumor location affects long-term neurologic outcomes in adults diagnosed with spinal ependymomas (SE). A retrospective cohort analysis of patients aged ≥ 18 years who underwent surgical resection for SE over a ten-year period was conducted. Tumor location was classified as cervical, thoracic, or lumbar/conus. Primary endpoints were post-operative McCormick Neurologic Scale (MNS) scores at < 3 days, 6 weeks, 1 year, and 2 years. One-way ANOVA was performed to detect significant differences in MNS scores between tumor locations. Twenty-eight patients were identified. The average age was 44.2 ± 15.4 years. Sixteen were male, and 13 were female. There were 10 cervical-predominant SEs, 13 thoracic-predominant SEs, and 5 lumbar/conus-predominant SEs. No significant differences were observed in pre-operative MNS scores between tumor locations (p = 0.73). One-way ANOVA testing demonstrated statistically significant differences in post-operative MNS scores between tumor locations at < 3 days (p = 0.03), 6 weeks (p = 0.009), and 1 year (p = 0.003); however, no significant difference was observed between post-operative MNS scores at 2 years (p = 0.13). The mean MNS score for patients with thoracic SEs were higher at all follow-up time points. Tumors arising in the thoracic SE are associated with worse post-operative neurologic outcomes in comparison to SEs arising in other spinal regions. This is likely multifactorial in etiology, owing to both anatomical differences including spinal cord volume as well as variations in tumor characteristics. No significant differences in 2-year MNS scores were observed, suggesting that patients ultimately recover from neurological insult sustained at the time of surgery.

Advances In Diagnosis And Management Of Atypical Spinal Infections: A Comprehensive Review, Glenn A. Gonzalez, Guilherme Porto, Eric Tecce, Yazan Shamli Oghli, J. Miao, Matthew O'Leary, Daniela Perez Chadid, Michael Vo, James Harrop

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

Atypical spinal infections (ASIs) of the spine are a challenging pathology to management with potentially devastating morbidity and mortality. To identify patients with atypical spinal infections, it is important to recognize the often insidious clinical and radiographic presentations, in the setting of indolent and smoldering organism growth. Trending of inflammatory markers, and culturing of organisms, is essential. Once identified, the spinal infection should be treated with antibiotics and possibly various surgical interventions including decompression and possible fusion depending on spine structural integrity and stability. Early diagnosis of ASIs and immediate treatment of debilitating conditions, such as epidural abscess, correlate with …

Global Outcomes For Microsurgical Clipping Of Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysms: A Benchmark Analysis Of 2245 Cases, Richard Drexler, Thomas Sauvigny, Tobias F. Pantel, Franz L. Ricklefs, Joshua S. Catapano, John E. Wanebo, Michael T. Lawton, Aminaa Sanchin, Nils Hecht, Peter Vajkoczy, Kunal Raygor, Daniel Tonetti, Adib Abla, Kareem El Naamani, Stavropoula I. Tjoumakaris, Pascal Jabbour, Brian T. Jankowitz, Mohamed M. Salem, Jan-Karl Burkhardt, Arthur Wagner, Maria Wostrack, Jens Gempt, Bernhard Meyer, Michael Gaub, Justin R. Mascitelli, Philippe Dodier, Gerhard Bavinzski, Karl Roessler, Nico Stroh, Matthias Gmeiner, Andreas Gruber, Eberval G. Figueiredo, Antonio Carlos Samaia Da Silva Coelho, Anatoliy V. Bervitskiy, Egor D. Anisimov, Jamil A. Rzaev, Harald Krenzlin, Naureen Keric, Florian Ringel, Dougho Park, Mun-Chul Kim, Eleonora Marcati, Marco Cenzato, Manfred Westphal, Lasse Dührsen

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Benchmarks represent the best possible outcome and help to improve outcomes for surgical procedures. However, global thresholds mirroring an optimal and reachable outcome for microsurgical clipping of unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIA) are not available. This study aimed to define standardized outcome benchmarks in patients who underwent clipping of UIA.

METHODS: A total of 2245 microsurgically treated UIA from 15 centers were analyzed. Patients were categorized into low- ("benchmark") and high-risk ("nonbenchmark") patients based on known factors affecting outcome. The benchmark was defined as the 75th percentile of all centers' median scores for a given outcome. Benchmark outcomes …

Clinical Practice Panel: Stand By Me: Using An Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (Eras)Checklist To Guide Early Mobility Of Postoperative Craniotomy Patients On A Progressive Care Unit, Alyssa Mooney, Jerome Codilla, Joanna Arraiza, Sohl Chapman, Nkiru Chukwudi, Ronald Rosales

2023 South Division Nursing Research Conference

No abstract provided.

Deep Brain Stimulation For Substance Use Disorder: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Nour Shaheen, Ahmed Shaheen, Can Sarica, Arun Singh, Mario Zanaty, Karim Johari, Andrew Yang, Theresa Zesiewicz, Brian Dalm, Yarema Bezchlibnyk, Andres M Lozano, Oliver Flouty

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

OBJECTIVE: Substance use disorder (SUD) is a significant public health issue with a high mortality rate. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has shown promising results in treating SUD in certain cases. In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of DBS in the treatment of SUD and reduction of relapse rates.

METHODS: We performed a thorough and methodical search of the existing scientific literature, adhering to the PRISMA guidelines, to identify 16 original studies that fulfilled our inclusion criteria. We used the evidence levels recommended by the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine to assess bias. The R version …

A Biologic-Device Combination Product Delivering Tumor-Derived Antigens Elicits Immunogenic Cell Death-Associated Immune Responses Against Glioblastoma, Christopher Cultrara, Christopher Uhl, Kenneth Kirby, Essam Abed Elrazaq, Amelia Zellander, David W. Andrews, Charles B. Scott, Lorenzo Galluzzi, Mark A. Exley, Jenny Zilberberg

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

Background IGV-001 is a personalized, autologous cancer cell-based immunotherapy conceived to deliver a tumor-derived antigenic payload in the context of immunostimulatory signals to patients with glioblastoma (GBM). IGV-001 consists of patient-derived GBM cells treated with an antisense oligodeoxynucleotide against insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) and placed in proprietary biodiffusion chambers (BDCs). The BDCs are then exposed to 5–6 Gy radiation and implanted at abdominal sites for ~48 hours. IGV-001 has previously been shown to be generally safe with promising clinical activity in newly diagnosed GBM patients.

Methods Mouse (m) or human (h) variants of IGV-001 …

Secondary Analysis Of A James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership To Facilitate Knowledge Translation In Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy (Dcm): Insights From Ao Spine Recode-Dcm, Benjamin Davies, Jamie Brannigan, Oliver D. Mowforth, Danyal Khan, Angus G.K. Mcnair, Lindsay Tetreault, Iwan Sadler, Ellen Sarewitz, Bizhan Aarabi, Brian Kwon, Toto Gronlund, Vafa Rahimi-Movaghar, Carl Moritz Zipser, Peter John Hutchinson, Shekar Kurpad, James S. Harrop, Jefferson R. Wilson, James D. Guest, Michael G. Fehlings, Mark R.N. Kotter

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

OBJECTIVES: To explore whether a James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership could provide insights on knowledge translation within the field of degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM).

DESIGN: Secondary analysis of a James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership process for DCM.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: DCM stake holders, including spinal surgeons, people with myelopathy and other healthcare professionals, were surveyed internationally. Research suggestions submitted by stakeholders but considered answered were identified. Sampling characteristics of respondents were compared with the overall cohort to identify subgroups underserved by current knowledge translation.

RESULTS: The survey was completed by 423 individuals from 68 different countries. A total …

Preclinical Models Of Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion: New Imaging Approaches To A Classic Technique, Jennifer D Sokolowski, Sauson Soldozy, Khadijeh A Sharifi, Pedro Norat, Kathryn N Kearns, Lei Liu, Ashley M Williams, Kaan Yağmurlu, Panagiotis Mastorakos, G Wilson Miller, M Yashar S Kalani, Min S Park, Ryan T Kellogg, Petr Tvrdik

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

Stroke remains a major burden on patients, families, and healthcare professionals, despite major advances in prevention, acute treatment, and rehabilitation. Preclinical basic research can help to better define mechanisms contributing to stroke pathology, and identify therapeutic interventions that can decrease ischemic injury and improve outcomes. Animal models play an essential role in this process, and mouse models are particularly well-suited due to their genetic accessibility and relatively low cost. Here, we review the focal cerebral ischemia models with an emphasis on the middle cerebral artery occlusion technique, a "gold standard" in surgical ischemic stroke models. Also, we highlight several histologic, …

Mortality In Asia Impairment Scale Grade A To D Patients With Odontoid Fracture And Magnetic Resonance Imaging Evidence Of Spinal Cord Injury, Bizhan Aarabi, Christopher J Neal, David S. Hersh, James S. Harrop, Michael G. Fehlings, Elizabeth G. Toups, James D. Guest, Beatrice Ugiliweneza, Noori Akhtar-Danesh, Shekar N. Kurpad, Robert G. Grossman

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

Odontoid fractures are common, often presenting in the elderly after a fall and infrequently associated with traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI). The goal of this study was to analyze predictors of mortality and neurological outcome when odontoid fractures were associated with signal change on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at admission. Over an 18-year period (2001-2019), 33 patients with odontoid fractures and documented tSCI on MRI were identified. Mean age was 65.3 years (standard deviation [SD] = 17.2), and 21 patients were male. The mechanism of injury was falls in 25 patients, motor vehicle accidents in 5, and other causes in …

Artificial Intelligence And Machine Learning In The Diagnosis And Management Of Stroke: A Narrative Review Of United States Food And Drug Administration-Approved Technologies, Anirudha S. Chandrabhatla, Elyse A. Kuo, Jennifer D. Sokolowski, Ryan T. Kellogg, Min Park, Panagiotis Mastorakos

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

Stroke is an emergency in which delays in treatment can lead to significant loss of neurological function and be fatal. Technologies that increase the speed and accuracy of stroke diagnosis or assist in post-stroke rehabilitation can improve patient outcomes. No resource exists that comprehensively assesses artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML)-enabled technologies indicated for the management of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. We queried a United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) database, along with PubMed and private company websites, to identify the recent literature assessing the clinical performance of FDA-approved AI/ML-enabled technologies. The FDA has approved 22 AI/ML-enabled technologies that triage brain …

Cancer Stem Cell Assay-Guided Chemotherapy Improves Survival Of Patients With Recurrent Glioblastoma In A Randomized Trial, Tulika Ranjan, Soma Sengupta, Michael J. Glantz, Richard M. Green, Alexander Yu, Dawit Aregawi, Rekha Chaudhary, Ricky Chen, Mario Zuccarello, Christine Lu-Emerson, Hugh D. Moulding, Neil Belman, Jon Glass, Aaron Mammoser, Mark Anderson, Jagan Valluri, Nicholas Marko, Jason Schroeder, Steven Jubelirer, Frances Chow, Pier Paolo Claudio, Anthony M. Alberico, Seth T. Lirette, Krista L. Denning, Candace M. Howard

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

Therapy-resistant cancer stem cells (CSCs) contribute to the poor clinical outcomes of patients with recurrent glioblastoma (rGBM) who fail standard of care (SOC) therapy. ChemoID is a clinically validated assay for identifying CSC-targeted cytotoxic therapies in solid tumors.

In a randomized clinical trial (NCT03632135), the ChemoID assay, a personalized approach for selecting the most effective treatment from FDA-approved chemotherapies, improves the survival of patients with rGBM (2016 WHO classification) over physician-chosen chemotherapy. In the ChemoID assay-guided group, median survival is 12.5 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 10.2-14.7) compared with 9 months (95% CI, 4.2-13.8) in the physician-choice group (p = …

Tips And Tricks For Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy In The Patient With Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt; A Case Report, Carmen Popa, Andrei Moisin, Mihai Faur, Mihaela Racheriu, Ramona Coca, Cristian Mihai Branescu, Tiberiu Trotea, Denisa Tănăsescu

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

Laparoscopic surgery in patients with ventriculo-peritoneal shunt is challenging in terms of technical approach. The severity of possible complications and the lack of studies on this association increase the surgeon's discomfort with such surgery. The main complications that may occur are increased intracranial pressure, secondary pneumo-peritoneum pneumocephalus, encephalitis and the risk of catheter injury during laparoscopic procedures. We present the case of a 56-year-old patient operated in 2004 for a basilar artery top aneurysm with subarachnoid hemorrhage and secondary hydrocephalus, for which a ventriculo-peritoneal shunt was fitted. This patient presented in our clinic with diffuse abdominal pain, more accentuated in …

Lived Experience-Centred Word Clouds May Improve Research Uncertainty Gathering In Priority Setting Partnerships, Oliver D. Mowforth, Lance Burn, Danyal Z. Khan, Xiaoyu Yang, Sybil R.L. Stacpoole, Toto Gronlund, Lindsay Tetreault, Sukhvinder Kalsi-Ryan, Michelle L. Starkey, Iwan Sadler, Ellen Sarewitz, Delphine Houlton, Julia Carter, Paige Howard, Vafa Rahimi-Movaghar, James D. Guest, Bizhan Aarabi, Brian K. Kwon, Shekar N. Kurpad, James Harrop, Jefferson R. Wilson, Robert Grossman, Emma K. Smith, Angus Mcnair, Michael G. Fehlings, Mark R.N. Kotter, Benjamin M. Davies

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

INTRODUCTION: AO Spine RECODE-DCM was a multi-stakeholder priority setting partnership (PSP) to define the top ten research priorities for degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM). Priorities were generated and iteratively refined using a series of surveys administered to surgeons, other healthcare professionals (oHCP) and people with DCM (PwDCM). The aim of this work was to utilise word clouds to enable the perspectives of people with the condition to be heard earlier in the PSP process than is traditionally the case. The objective was to evaluate the added value of word clouds in the process of defining research uncertainties in National Institute for …

Emerging Therapeutic Strategies For Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma: A Systematic Review, Shahrukh Farrukh, Shagufta Habib, Amna Rafaqat, Zouina Sarfraz, Azza Sarfraz, Muzna Sarfraz, Karla Robles-Velasco, Miguel Felix, Ivan Cherrez-Ojeda

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Background: Of all central nervous systems tumors, 10-20% are located in the brainstem; diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is diagnosed in 80% of them. With over five decades of clinical trial testing, there are no established therapeutic options for DIPG. This research article aims to collate recent clinical trial data and provide a landscape for the most promising therapies that have emerged in the past five years.
Methods: PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus, and Cochrane were systematically searched using the following keywords: Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, Pontine, Glioma, Treatment, Therapy, Therapeutics, curative, and/or Management. Both adult and pediatric patients with …

Sphenopalatine Artery Pseudoaneurysm Formation Following Facial Trauma: A Case Report And Literature Review, Kareem El Naamani, Stephen Capone, Ching-Jen Chen, Lisa Tartaglino, Marc Rosen, Rawad Abbas, Georgios S. Sioutas, Abdelaziz Amllay, Adam Hunt, Michael Reid Gooch, Nabeel Herial, Pascal Jabbour, Robert H. Rosenwasswer, Stavropoula Tjoumakaris

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

Facial fractures, specifically orbitozygomatic and zygomaticomaxillary complex fractures, are well-documented and common injuries. Pseudoaneurysm formation following cerebrovascular blunt trauma is a rarely experienced complication with an incidence rate of less than 1% with only a few cases reported in the literature. Traumatic pseudoaneurysm formation of the sphenopalatine artery (SPA), the deepest branch of the maxillary artery, is extremely rare due to the deep location of the SPA and its protection from bony landmarks. In craniofacial trauma, pseudoaneurysm formation is not apparent on physical examination due to its deep location and usually presents as persistent nasal bleeding. SPA pseudoaneurysms can present …

Clinical Outcomes With And Without Adherence To Evidence-Based Medicine Guidelines For Lumbar Degenerative Spondylolisthesis Fusion Patients, Glenn A Gonzalez, Guilherme Porto, Kevin Hines, Daniel Franco, Thiago S Montenegro, Aria Mahtabfar, Matthew O'Leary, J. Miao, Sara Thalheimer, Joshua Pelta-Heller, Ashwini Sharan, James Harrop

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

Introduction: Degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis (DS) patients are treated with instrumented fusion, following EBM guidelines, and typically have excellent clinical outcomes. However, not all lumbar fusion procedures adhere to EBM guidelines, typically due to a lack of prospective data.

Objective: This retrospective study compared outcomes of DS lumbar fusion patients treated according to EBM guidelines (EBM concordant) to lumbar fused patients with procedures that did not have clear EBM literature that supported this treatment, the goal being to examine the value of present EBM to guide clinical care.

Methods: A total of 125 DS patients were considered EBM concordant, while 21 …

A Qualitative Description Of Barriers To Visual Rehabilitation Experienced By Stroke Survivors With Visual Impairment In Alberta, Canada, Kiran Pohar Manhas, Katelyn Brehon, Jennis Jiang, Karim F. Damji, Fiona Costello

Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences

Background: Post-stroke visual impairment (VI) is a common but under-recognized care challenge. Common manifestations of post-stroke VI include: diplopia, homonymous hemianopia, oscillopsia secondary to nystagmus, and visual inattention or neglect. In acute care settings, post-stroke VI recognition and treatment are often sub-optimal as emphasis is placed on survival. Stroke survivors with VI often face inconsistencies when accessing care out of hospital because variable availability and subsidization of visual rehabilitation. We sought to identify gaps in care experienced by stroke survivors with VI from stroke survivors' and care providers' perspectives.
Methods: We conducted a qualitative description study across 12 care sites …

Graph Theoretical Measures Of Fast Ripple Networks Improve The Accuracy Of Post-Operative Seizure Outcome Prediction, Shennan A Weiss, Itzhak Fried, Chengyuan Wu, Ashwini Sharan, Daniel Y. Rubinstein, Jerome Engel, Michael R Sperling, Richard J Staba

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

Fast ripples (FR) are a biomarker of epileptogenic brain, but when larger portions of FR generating regions are resected seizure freedom is not always achieved. To evaluate and improve the diagnostic accuracy of FR resection for predicting seizure freedom we compared the FR resection ratio (RR) with FR network graph theoretical measures. In 23 patients FR were semi-automatically detected and quantified in stereo EEG recordings during sleep. MRI normalization and co-registration localized contacts and relation to resection margins. The number of FR, and graph theoretical measures, which were spatial (i.e., FR rate-distance radius) or temporal correlational (i.e., FR mutual information), …

Unsupervised Machine Learning Using K-Means Identifies Radiomic Subgroups Of Pediatric Low-Grade Gliomas That Correlate With Key Molecular Markers, Debanjan Haldar, Anahita Fathi Kazerooni, Sherjeel Arif, Ariana Familiar, Rachel Madhogarhia, Nastaran Khalili, Sina Bagheri, Hannah Anderson, Ibraheem Salman Shaikh, Aria Mahtabfar, Meen Chul Kim, Wenxin Tu, Jefferey Ware, Arastoo Vossough, Christos Davatzikos, Phillip B Storm, Adam Resnick, Ali Nabavizadeh

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

Introduction: Despite advancements in molecular and histopathologic characterization of pediatric low-grade gliomas (pLGGs), there remains significant phenotypic heterogeneity among tumors with similar categorizations. We hypothesized that an unsupervised machine learning approach based on radiomic features may reveal distinct pLGG imaging subtypes.

Methods: Multi-parametric MR images (T1 pre- and post-contrast, T2, and T2 FLAIR) from 157 patients with pLGGs were collected and 881 quantitative radiomic features were extracted from tumorous region. Clustering was performed using K-means after applying principal component analysis (PCA) for feature dimensionality reduction. Molecular and demographic data was obtained from the PedCBioportal and compared between imaging subtypes.

Results: …

Safety And Efficacy Of Salvage Therapy With Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy For Malignant Meningioma Refractory To Cesium-131 Brachytherapy: Illustrative Case, Clifford Yudkoff, Aria Mahtabfar, Keenan Piper, Kevin Judy

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND

Anaplastic meningioma are rare, cancerous tumors of the central nervous system that often require multimodal therapy for tumor control. Both laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) and brachytherapy with implanted cesium-131 metallic seeds have demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of recurrent and resistant anaplastic meningioma; however, their safety as a dual therapy has never been reported.

OBSERVATIONS

In this report, the authors present a case of a 53-year-old female who received LITT in combination with brachytherapy after surgical and radiation treatment options had been exhausted. The authors discuss the unique safety concern of thermal injury with this treatment combination and …

Responsive Neurostimulation (Rns) Of The Centromedian Nucleus Of The Thalamus For The Treatment Of Drug Resistant Idiopathic Generalized Epilepsy, Angelique Manasseh, Hannah Guider, Brooklynn Bondy, Ayman Haykal, Nour Baki, Ashleigh Terrell, Michael Staudt, Christopher Parres, Andrew Zillgitt

Conference Presentation Abstracts

Rationale: Idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) accounts for approximately one-third of all epilepsies. The majority of people with IGE achieve seizure-freedom from treatment with anti-seizure medications (ASM). However, up to 25% of people with IGE continue to experience seizures despite adequate ASM trials. In patients with drug resistant IGE, neuromodulation with responsive neurostimulation (RNS) in the bilateral centromedian nucleus (CMN) of the thalamus may be an effective treatment option. Methods: Five patients with drug resistant IGE were evaluated through the Beaumont Adult Comprehensive Epilepsy Center and underwent an epilepsy presurgical evaluation including video-EEG monitoring in the epilepsy monitoring unit, brain MRI, …

Human Amniotic Membrane As A Dural Substitute In Neurosurgery: A Systematic Review, Zara Shah, Saqib Kamran Bakhshi, Mohammad Hamza Bajwa, Mujtaba Khalil, Michael C. Dewan, Muhammad Shahzad Shamim

Medical College Documents

Background: Several studies have highlighted the use of human amniotic membrane (HAM) in neurosurgical procedures as an effective dural substitute. HAM has inherent antifibrotic and anti-inflammatory properties and exhibits immunomodulatory effect that makes it an ideal dural substitute. Other advantages including easy availability, low cost of procurement, and storage also render it a promising dural substitute especially in low- and middle-income countries.
Methods: A systematic literature search was performed using PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases, using the search terms "human amniotic membrane," "dural repair," and "neurosurgery." To be eligible for inclusion in our review, papers had to report primary …